Spencer got a group of us together at the Mill to open a spectacular array of wines from his cellar. Was great to see some good friends again after a while out of the country. A very fun evening in a lovely setting with good food and some stunning wines (when they weren't affected by closures). The Chave and Trollat were highlights of the night for me, followed by the slow cooked pork belly that was the standout item among the food.
1999 Philipponnat Clos des Goisses Champagne
Starts out aggressively dry, to the point that it feels slightly austere with bracingly tart fruit flavours around a strong acid spine. There's a musty aroma that gets worse with time - yup, corked. Sigh.
1989 Trimbach Riesling Cuvée Frédéric Emile Vendange Tardive
Stunning Riesling, showing an incredible array of flavours in a seamless package with incredible balance and persistence. The first impression is of rich, honeyed white fruits and apples, but with time this keeps unravelling to show other herbal, mineral and developed smoky flavours, turning dry on the back end as a savoury earthiness emerges to counter the understated sweetness. There's a sense of real polish and gloss to the texture, with a developed creaminess and fantastic length.
2004 Bonneau du Martray Corton-Charlemagne
Oxidising, with a nasty, sherried overlay to the rich fruit and herbal flavours here. Ugh.
1966 Château Montrose
Bottle looked in very good condition with the cork coming out in one piece and a pretty high fill. But it's hideously corked. FFS.
1983 Domaine Jean-Louis Chave Hermitage
Spectacular stuff. It's hard to move past the fragrance here, which just keeps expanding with air and combines all sorts of meaty, leathery, smoky, rusty and red fruited elements into an intoxicating scent that's beyond description. Unreal finesse and elegance in the mouth, conveying flavour with barely any sense of weight and a polished, satiny texture. Tremendous length and presence, with each sip staying with you and the last few being the best - what a treat.
1995 Raymond Trollat St. Joseph Vieilles Vignes
Starts out with a core of olives and dark berried fruit accented by gentle spice, meaty and saline notes. Very elegant with a sense of restrained power, with the meaty and fruit flavours building slowly with time until this eventually tastes like equal parts pork sausage and olives. Wonderful wine that was an incredible companion and contrast to the Chave, complementing its developed complexity with more primary and raw fruit and meat flavours, but the same sense of elegance and lightness of touch.
1997 Domaine Georges Mugneret/Mugneret-Gibourg Echezeaux
Return of the Portuguese menace! The romance just keeps coming.
1996 Billecart-Salmon Champagne Cuvée Nicolas-François Billecart
Lovely aromatics, full of fresh brioche, vanilla cream, white fruits and touches of honey and yeast. Tremendous power and richness in the mouth with fresh baked biscuit and ripe fruit complemented by gentle nutty and marzipan notes, very fresh and lively with really good acidity and effervescence.
1994 Marcel Deiss Gewurztraminer Altenberg de Bergheim Sélection de Grains Nobles
Packed with honey-drenched tropical fruit flavours ranging from pineapple to lychee, Gewurz florality and touches of caramel and spice, very rich and slightly viscous, but nicely balanced with enough acidity to keep it from feeling too heavy, and impressive length.
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